Rightmove : Five famous London buildings you can visit during Open House Festival 2022

If you've ever filled an afternoon wandering through the streets of London, chances are you've clocked some incredible architecture along your way. But while we can admire these buildings from the street, that's often where our experience of them ends.

Many of London's most famous and notable buildings are private, so it's rare that we're given the opportunity to step through their doors, and take a first-hand look at what goes on inside.

But with Open House Festival, a two-week annual celebration of London and its buildings, seeing what goes on behind those closed doors becomes possible. Open House offers a mix of drop-in venues, and ticketed tours that need to be pre-booked in advance, often with experts or live-in residents conducting tours. All tickets are free, and you can book them via the Open House website.

We've rounded up five buildings - both private homes, as well as some of the most secure buildings in the world - that're set to be some of the festival's hottest tickets on the 2022 programme.

Take a look…

1. Bank of England, Moorgate, City of London

Back on the Open House Festival programme after a five year hiatus, the Bank of England has been one of Open House's most popular things to visit in years gone by (the queue for the venue once brought the City of London to a standstill). The building runs deep underground, and has seen the building branded a 'groundscraper', rather than the skyscrapers you'd normally expect to see throughout the City. The building includes the gold vaults, which houses one of the world's largest collections of gold bars.

Check ticket availability for Bank of England

2. Lancaster House, Westminster, Central London

A government building close to Buckingham Palace, Lancaster House is a palatial mansion that dates back to 1825. Its Palace of Versailles-style décor will make visitors feel like they've just been dropped into the Bridgerton set. Visitors will be able to experience guided tours in small groups, and hear about the history of the building, as well as its usage today.

Check ticket availability for Lancaster House

3. Crescent House, The Barbican, City of London

Undeniably one of London's most fascinating estates, the brutalist rabbit warren of The Barbican is home to residential buildings, as well as the public performing arts centre. The residential buildings are usually not accessible by anyone but those who live there, however Grade II-listed Crescent House will open for festival-goers to look around the iconic 1960s flats.

Check ticket availability for Crescent House

4. Fog House, Clerkenwell, North East London

Fog House is a Clerkenwell home designed by internationally acclaimed architect, David Adjaye, for TV personality and journalist, Janet Street Porter (Porter is also one of the guest curators of this year's festival). Named so because of the 'fogged', softened light that floods into the building via towering glass walls, Fog House is a jaw-dropping five-storey home. Industrial materials, sleek surfaces and block colour are mainstays of this home, which also has two balconies - one sheltered and the other sun-drenched - and views down onto tranquil St James's Churchyard.

Check ticket availability for Fog House

5. One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, East London

Long before the likes of The Shard and The Walkie Talkie were dominant silhouettes on London's cityscape, it was One Canada Square you'd think of when namedropping the capital's skyscrapers. It's the third tallest skyscraper in the UK, and visitors can enjoy this rare opportunity to see inside a normally off-limits London landmark.

Check ticket availability for One Canada Square

Rightmove is the headline partner of Open House Festival.

READ MORE:5 incredible private homes you can visit during Open House 2022